HG (OTCMKTS:STLY) versus Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Head to Head Comparison

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) and HG (OTCMKTS:STLY) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Lamar Advertising and HG, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lamar Advertising	0	4	1	0	2.20
HG	0	0	0	0	0.00

Lamar Advertising presently has a consensus target price of $134.60, indicating a potential upside of 21.08%. Given Lamar Advertising’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Lamar Advertising is more favorable than HG.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lamar Advertising and HG”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lamar Advertising	$2.21 billion	5.16	$495.76 million	$3.53	31.49
HG	$11.11 million	1.11	-$820,000.00	($0.08)	-53.75

Lamar Advertising has higher revenue and earnings than HG. HG is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lamar Advertising, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.8% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.7% of HG shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.0% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 36.1% of HG shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Lamar Advertising and HG’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lamar Advertising	16.40%	30.20%	5.53%
HG	-3.70%	-1.31%	-0.92%

Volatility and Risk

Lamar Advertising has a beta of 1.34, suggesting that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HG has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Lamar Advertising beats HG on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lamar Advertising

Lamar Advertising Company operates as an outdoor advertising company in the United States and Canada. The company owns and operates billboards, logo signs, and transit advertising displays, as well as rents space for advertising on billboards, buses, shelters, benches, logo plates, and in airport terminals. Lamar Advertising Company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

About HG

HG Holdings, Inc. engages in the title insurance and real estate businesses in the United States. It operates through four segments: Title Insurance Services, Reinsurance, Management Services, and Real Estate. The company provides title insurance, closing and/or escrow, and similar or related services in connection with residential and commercial real estate transactions. It also owns and operates a portfolio of single-tenant properties leased for the occupancy by U.S. government tenant agencies and sub-agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Veterans affairs, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Transportation. In addition, the company provides excess-of-loss reinsurance coverage related to catastrophic weather risk in Texas; and management advisory services, such as formation, operational, and restructuring services. The company was formerly known as Stanley Furniture Company, Inc. and changed its name to HG Holdings, Inc. in March 2018. HG Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.